Moving Targets: Religious Freedom, Hobby Lobby, and the Future of LGBT Rights

A Religious Right to Discriminate

10.37419/lr.v3.i2.6 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 395-416 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Travis Gasper

Keyword(s):

Religious Freedom ◽

Insurance Coverage ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Health Insurance Coverage ◽

Religious Right ◽

Potential Harm ◽

Marginalized Groups ◽

The Supreme Court ◽

Lgbt Community ◽

Hobby Lobby

The Supreme Court in its 2014 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby broadly expanded so-called religious freedom protections in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”) by striking down a provision of the Affordable Care Act requiring employers to provide health insurance coverage for certain methods of contraception. In doing so, the Court opened the floodgates for employers to claim an exemption based upon any “sincerely held” religious belief. Without inquiry into the sincerity of that belief, businesses and corporations are free to adopt or assert beliefs that could lead to increased discrimination against employees. This is especially troublesome for marginalized groups like the LGBT community, which is already on the receiving end of discrimination under the pretext of religious exemptions. To correct any future misuse of these exemptions, Congress should amend RFRA to permit courts to assess the belief being asserted and contrast it with the potential harm if an exemption is allowed. The purpose of RFRA is to ease the burden faced by people of faith forced to go against their religious beliefs if they obey a certain statute. Easing this burden should focus on heady moral dilemmas, not mere inconveniences. Amending RFRA can ensure it maintains its initial purpose of protecting religious freedom, while not being used as a tool to perpetuate discrimination.

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How the Interests of Children Limit the Religious Freedom of Parents

10.1093/oso/9780198794394.003.0016 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel M. Weinstock

Keyword(s):

Religious Freedom ◽

Family Context ◽

The Family ◽

The Future

This chapter argues that parents have a right to raise their children according to the tenets of the religions that they profess. That right can be seen as grounded in the interest that children have in enjoying the kind of intimacy within the family context that is facilitated by participation in practices and rituals rooted in comprehensive conceptions of the good. It also argues, however, that children have a right to be raised in a manner that does not foreclose their future autonomy. These two rights can be reconciled if we distinguish acceptable and unacceptably asymmetrical upbringings. Parents can incline their children toward certain values and practices in accordance with their comprehensive conceptions, on condition that they also provide children with the conditions that will allow them to make autonomous decisions in the future.

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